Hillary Clinton clinches Democratic presidential nomination

Washington, June 7 (IANS) Hillary Clinton has clinched the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination on Monday, and is set to become the first woman in the America’s 240-year history to lead the presidential ticket of a major political party.

A strong showing in Puerto Rico’s Democratic primary on Sunday and additional support from superdelegates put Clinton, 68, over the top to become the presumptive nominee.

She has secured 1,812 pledged delegates and 572 superdelegates for a total of 2,384 delegates — one more than needed for the nomination, CNN reported.

Clinton’s delegate count will grow on Tuesday when six states, including delegate-rich California and New Jersey, hold contests.

Speaking in Long Beach, California, on Monday night, Clinton said she was still focused on the states where voters will cast their ballots on Tuesday.

“We are on the brink of a historic, historic unprecedented moment but we still have work to do, don’t we?” she said, adding “We have six elections tomorrow (Tuesday) and are going to fight hard for every single vote, especially right here in California.”

The former first lady, senator from New York and secretary of state will officially become the Democratic nominee at next month’s convention and will face presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump in a general election battle.

However, polls conducted recently showed Clinton, like Trump, is one of the most unpopular presumptive nominees in history.

The scandal over the private email server she used as secretary of state has renewed questions over her transparency and honesty.

Republicans believe her foreign policy record, tainted by her dealings with Libya and Russia while secretary of state, could turn into a huge benefit for their candidate.